Anusuya
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Anusuya (IAST:Anusūyā, sanskrit: अनुसूया or Sati Anusuya, in Hindu mythology, was wife of the sage Atri and mother of Dattatreya (Sanskrit: दत्तात्रेय) who is considered by some Hindus (in western India) to be an incarnation of the Divine Trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.
[edit] Stories of Anusuya and Atri
- Atri made a great tapascharya on the riksha kulaparvat (kula mountain) because of which the whole world started burning. Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesha were impressed with him and asked him what he wants. For which Atri asked them to be his children (or have children like them). So Atri and Anusuya had 3 sons namely, Soma or Chandra (the Moon) from Brahma, Dattatreya from Vishnu and sage Durvasa from Shiva.
- In Brahma Purana, Atri asked for the 3 sons and one daughter. So he had Chandra, Dattatreya, Durvas as sons and Shubhatreyi as daughter from Anusuya.
- A brahmin named Kaushik was staying in a town called Pratishthaan. He used to go to a whore in spite of being a Brahmin and having a devoted wife. Later he suffred from Leprosy and was thrown out by the whore. Then he came back to his wife who accepted him still. However, he still did not care for the wife, and was thinking about the whore all the time. One day he asked his wife to take him to that whore. In that town, by mistake the sage Mandavya had been spiked instead of the real thief and he was lying on the spike in the forest. While walking through the deep forest in the night, Kaushik happened to hit his leg by mistake to Mandavya sage who cursed him to death before the sunrise. To stop the curse, Kaushik's wife with her powers stopped the Sunrise which created havoc. Then gods went to Brahma who in turn went to Anusuya and asked her to convince Kaushik's wife to allow the sunrise. She convinced Kaushik's wife and brought back Kaushik to life after the sunrise. Gods were very happy with Anusuya and she had the trio born to her.
- Rahu had masked the Sun and whole Earth was in the dark. Then Atri got the Sun out of Rahu's hands and lighted the Earth. The gods were happy and then Shiva and Vishnu were born as Durvas and Dattatreya to Atri-Anusuya.
- Sage Narad praised Anusuya very much making the wives of Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva jealous of Anusuya. They requested their husbands to go and break her "pativrata" vrata (being loyal to husband all the time). They went to Anusuya as guests when Atri was not there at home and asked her to serve them food (lunch) without wearing clothes. She agreed and remembering her husband put the water on their converting them to 3 babies. Here the 3 goddesses were waiting for their husbands to come back and eventually arrived at the scene to find that their husbands have been converted to babies. They repented and by the request of Anusuya the three Gods decided to be born as her 3 sons.
[edit] Sati Anusuya ashrama
Sati Anusuya ashrama is in Chitrakuta, located further upstreams the Mandakini, 16 km from the town, set amidst thick forests that round to the melody of birdsong all day. It was here that sage Atri, his wife Anusuya and their three sons ( who were the three incarnations of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh), lived and are said to have meditated.
As per description of Valmiki at one time there was no rain in Chitrakuta for ten years. There was a severe famine and nothing was left to eat or drink for animals and birds. Sati Anusuya performed hard and intensive austerities and got the river Mandakini down on earth. This led to the greenery and forests to grow which removed the sufferings of all sages and the animals. [1]
Sati Anusuya ashrama at present is a very peaceful place where various streams from the hills converge and form the Mandakini River. It is said that Rama along with Sita had visited this place to meet Maharishi Atri and Sati Anusuya. It is here Sati Anusuya explained to Sita the grandeur and importance of satitva. The dense forests of Dandaka start from this place. It was ruled by Ravana. Ravana had appointed strong rakshasas like Khara and Viradha as its rulers. The place was infected by the terror of rakshasas. [2]
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